The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Dendranthema grandiflora and referred to by the cultivar name Soft Heather.
The new cultivar is a product of a mutation induction breeding program conducted by the inventor in Fort Myers, Fla., and Salinas, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having with desirable inflorescence form and color and good garden performance.
The new cultivar originated by exposing unrooted cuttings of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Heather (disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,440) to X-ray radiation at a level of 1,750 rads in March, 1994. Following the radiation treatment, the cuttings were rooted and terminal apices were removed (pinched) three times to promote lateral branch development. After lateral branches from the third pinch reached sufficient size, terminal cuttings were harvested, planted and flowered in a controlled environment in Salinas, Calif. The cultivar Soft Heather was discovered and selected by the inventor as a single flowering plant within this population in August, 1994. The selction of this plant was based on its desirable ray floret color and good form.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cutting taken in a controlled environment in Salinas, Calif., has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.